Ightham Mote Circular Walk to Old Soar Manor
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Ightham Mote circular walk to Old Ightham Mote, Mote Road, Ivy Soar Manor Hatch, Sevenoaks, Kent, TN15 0NT Admire the Kentish countryside as you enjoy this circular walk TRAIL linking two of our places dating Walking to medieval England. The walk takes you through the ancient GRADE woodland of Scathes Wood, into Easy the Fairlawne Estate and onto Plaxtol Spout before returning to DISTANCE Ightham Mote through orchards Approximately 7 miles and the Greensand Way. (11.3 km) TIME approximately 4 4.5 Terrain hours, including a 30 A mixture of footpaths, woodland, country lanes and meadows, with approximately 12 stiles on route. minutes stop over at Old Soar Manor Things to see OS MAP OS Explorer map 147 grid ref: TQ584535 Contact 01732 810378 [email protected] Scathes Wood Old Soar Manor Shipbourne Church Facilities Still known locally as Scats Wood, Old Soar Manor is the remaining The church of St Giles was built it is mainly sweet chestnut with structure of a rare, late 13th- by Edward Cazalet of Fairlawne some oak. There is a wonderful century knight's dwelling, and opened in 1881. display of bluebells in early including the solar chamber, spring. barrel-vaulted undercroft chapel and garderobe. nationaltrust.org.uk/walks Ightham Mote, Mote Road, Ivy Hatch, Sevenoaks, Kent, TN15 0NT Start/end Start: Ightham Mote visitor reception grid ref TQ584535 End: Ightham Mote visitor reception, grid ref TQ584535 How to get there By bus: Nu-Venture 404 from Sevenoaks, calls Thursday and 1. From Ightham Mote Car Park (with Visitor Reception behind you), walk through the walled car park and up the entrance driveway to a five-bar gate and stile on the right, which is the entrance to Friday only, on other days alight Scathes Wood. Cross the stile and follow the footpath ahead, ignoring paths to right and left, until the Ivy Hatch Village (St Mary's path ahead begins to turn to the left. At this point, look for a path to the right with a stile leading to a Lane), 0.75 miles (1.2km) walk. parallel path. Take this path and cross the stile to turn left onto the path ahead. Continue along this Please note, no Saturday or new path, which rises and bears right before bearing left into a wooded area leading to a gate and the Sunday services. A227. Autocar 222 Tunbridge Wells to Borough Green, alight at 2. Cross the busy A227 to a bridleway, five-bar gate and pedestrian gate. Pass through the gate Ightham. No Sunday service. 2 to follow the path ahead into woodland that opens out to a grass meadow. As the tree line ends on miles (3.2 km) walk. the right giving way to fencing and a field gate. Take the path that sweeps to the left down a slope towards another tree line and stile leading to an orchard. Continue ahead through the orchard to an Arriva 308 Sevenoaks to enclosed path leading down between houses to a road. Turn right onto the road and walk on a short Gravesend, hourly service distance before taking the left-hand turn by a grassed triangular island. Follow the road down past Monday to Saturday alight 16th-century 'Nut Tree Hall' and 17th-century 'The Grange' (both on the right), continuing until you Ightham Common, 2 miles (3.2 reach a road junction at Dux Hill. km) walk. By train: Borough Green and 3. Turn right into Dux Hill and follow the road down past cottages on the left and a paddock on the right to another road junction. At the road junction, take the right-hand road, continuing down Dux Hill Wrotham 3.5 miles (5.6km); to Plaxtol Spout and another road junction. Cross the road to a stile by a gateway and cross the stile Hildenborough 4 miles (6.4km); to follow the footpath down to the River Bourne. Sevenoaks 7 miles (11.2km). Journey time from London 4. Cross the footbridge over the river and (ignoring paths to right and left) walk ahead into a field Victoria to Borough Green continuing on crossing a small stream then reaching a wide track ahead and turning away to the left. approximately 40 minutes. Continue along the track to a gateway and stile at a road. Cross the stile to the road and turn left onto By road: 6 miles (9.6km) north the road, which rises up to a cottage on the right and a barn and yard on the left. Just beyond the of Tonbridge on A227; 6 miles barn on the left is a Georgian-style house with a private driveway entrance, immediately beyond and (9.6km) south of Sevenoaks on adjoining this house is Old Soar Manor whose entrance gate is in the stone wall a few metres further A25; 16 miles (25.7 km) west of on (look for the National Trust sign). Maidstone on A20/A25. 5. Leaving Old Soar Manor, walk back down the road and continue on past the gateway and stile crossed previously. Walk on (passing farm buildings on the right and Broadfield Farm on the left) before reaching a T-junction with the road turning right and a tractor track to the left. Turn left and proceed up the track, then turn right at a gateway into an orchard. Follow the track through the orchard with the hedgerow on your left (past an entrance to some portable buildings) and following on until reaching buildings on the left and a gateway ahead with a stile at a road. Cross the stile and turn right onto the road. Follow the road down an incline to a left-hand bend and as the road bends to the nationaltrust.org.uk/walks right, look for a footpath sign on the left indicating the Greensand Way, but continue walking the road ahead. Carry on past the entrance to the Roughway Mills (formally paper mills by the River Bourne), which runs beneath the road at this point, then on up to a road junction by the Kentish Rifleman public house. 6. Walk past the public house to the road junction ahead and turn left. Walk a short distance on the right-hand side of the road to a footpath and up steps to a kissing gate. Turning right up the steps and through the gate, follow the path a few paces to a stile over a large rock. Cross the stile and walk ahead along the edge of the field with the fence on your right, until reaching a stile in the fence and a cross path. At this point turn left, following the path down a slope to a tree line and stile leading into a wood. Continue walking ahead through the wood to cross another stile into a field, then walk on crossing the field towards a gate and stile at a road. Cross the stile and cross the road into the entrance of Fairlawne Home Farm. Walk down the drive past the farm buildings continue on down a sloping track with a field on the right and ahead. At the bottom of the slope, carry on walking straight ahead, now uphill across the field to a tree line at the rear gardens to private houses. With fencing on the left, proceed to a kissing gate leading to a driveway between two houses and the Shipbourne Road ahead. Upon reaching the road, walk on ahead and you will see in the distance Shipbourne Church (you are still walking the Greensand Way as you walk to the church). 7. Cross the busy Tonbridge Road to the church entrance, passing through the gates around the right-hand side of the church to a kissing gate in the rear wall of the churchyard. Immediately after the kissing gate, turn right across a stile and proceed towards a fence line on the right, crossing a driveway to keep the fence on your right until reaching a stile in the corner of the field. Cross this stile and a further stile ahead leading initially to a wide area between wire fences, opening out to grass fields. Walk on ahead towards trees and fencing, which upon reaching, keep on your right-hand side to a stile in the bottom corner of the field and a track beyond. Turn right down the track a short distance before turning left onto a footpath along the edge of a field. As the ground slopes upwards, turn half right and follow the path to a stile in a tree line. Cross this stile to walk an enclosed track with fencing on both sides, through a wood of mainly pine trees. The path slopes upwards before dipping down to a stile, which is crossed into a field. Follow the path ahead to a gap in the hedgerow, leading into another field at the back to the Ightham Mote estate. Walk round the edge of the field, keeping the hedgerow now on the left, to a gateway and stile onto Mote Road. Turn right and walk up Mote Road to the rear entrance of Ightham Mote and follow the bridleway past the house and shop, before turning left towards the Mote Restaurant and car park..